Articles Tagged With: The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center

Jake Odmark (left) as Beau and Danielle Wade (right) as Maizy in Shucked 📷Matthew Murphy

Kernels of Comedy: An Earful from Shucked’s Jake Odmark

Interviews March 24, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

Corn is so fantastic because it has a-maize-ing friends! There. I told my corn joke. And it popped! And if you need more of that corny humor, you’re in luck! Shucked is coming to Baltimore, landing at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, and it’s bringing some local yokels with it! No joke and this isn’t an April Fools’ prank! We’ve had a phone-chat-interview with Jake Odmark, starring as Beau in Shucked, and we can’t wait to share it with you!

Disney’s The Lion King at The Hippodrome

Reviews February 14, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

It moves us all— through despair and hope, through faith and love— and Disney’s The Lion King has found its place on the path unwinding— right here in Charm City at Baltimore’s very own Hippodrome Theatre! The mighty tale of the circle of life returns to Baltimore once more and is the joyful uplifting theatrical experience that everyone in the world needs right now. Directed by Julie Taymor with Choreography by Garth Fagan,

Phantom and Elephants and Gatsby, Oh My! Talking with Ron Legler on The Hippodrome’s 2025/2026 Season Featuring Three National Tour Launches

Interviews February 5, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Just when you thought Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre couldn’t get any more exciting for the 2025/2026 season— after announcing that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera will be launching its National Tour right from the heart of Charm City in November of 2025— the whole rest of the season announcement has dropped and it’s a glitter bomb of spectacular proportions! Three National Tour launches— not one, not two, but THREE. Seven extraordinary shows;

Hazel Vogel (center) as Annie and the company of Annie 📷 Matthew Murphy

Annie at The Hippodrome

Reviews January 8, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Everything’s humming now! Good times are coming now! It’— Annie! ANNIE! And Annie has returned to Charm City once more (after running their tech week at Baltimore’s illustrious Hippodrome Theatre back in November 2024 before heading out on their national touring circuit!) Annie marks the first Broadway Across America tour to grace the Hippodrome stage this 2025 calendar year and— leapin’ lizards! It’s genius! Charming and heartfelt and a perfect way to carry that holiday spirit well into the new year,

The Sun Will Come Out: Interviewing Baltimore’s Own Hazel Vogel as Annie

Interviews December 29, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

The sun’ll come out! TOMORROW! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow— there’ll be— well, in Maryland, it could be sun, could be snow, could be 92° with a hailstorm because this is the state where the weather changes on a dime and without much sense or warning. But Towson native Hazel Vogel, currently starring in the titular role of Annie knows all about Maryland weather. And she’s hoping to bring the sunshine with her when the National Tour of Annie returns to her home state for the first full week in January of 2025.

Life of Pi at The Hippodrome Theatre Baltimore 📷 Evan Zimmerman

Life of Pi at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre

Reviews December 11, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

“Every soul is a piece of the Creator so every soul has a whisper of the divine within.” There were numerous quotes sprinkled liberally throughout last night’s production of Life Of Pi, that hit home, strike the heart, spark the mind, inspire the soul, and give theatergoers in Charm City a real chance to connect with a human story this holiday season. Making its national tour debut here at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre,

He’s Here: The Phantom of The Opera- A Quick Chat with Ron Legler about Phantom of The Opera’s 2025 National Tour Launching from Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre

Interviews November 14, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Fondest Greetings, Good Monsieurs…did you think that I had left you for good?

We’ve been waiting. Since Sunday April 16th 2023…when Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera played its final performance at The Majestic Theatre on Broadway. After 35 years and 13,981 performances (marking it as the longest running musical in Broadway’ illustrious history), there was a darkness that overtook The Great White Way, though not without the promise of a return…and that return has finally arrived.

Nolan Almeida (left) as Peter Pan and Cody Garcia (center) as Captain Hook and Hawa Kamara (right) as Wendy and the cast of Peter Pan. ????Matthew Murphy

Peter Pan at The Hippodrome

Reviews February 22, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

econd star to the right and straight on til— viral video ballroom waltzing? Shut the fort door, since when does Peter Pan have Wendy being obsessed with going viral so that she can help pay for her medical school training because she wants to grow up and be a surgeon?

~*~*~*ANGRY TINKLING & CHIMING NOISES*~*~*~

What was that, Tinker Bell? In the newly refurbished national tour launch production that’s leaping into the air with lovely thoughts straight out of Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre?

Rob McClure as Euphegenia Doubtfire in Mrs. Doubtfire ???? Joan Marcus

Mrs. Doubtfire at The Hippodrome

Reviews January 31, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Wanted: Heart-warming, feel-good, fun-loving musical to fill the aching hole in the hearts of Baltimore after Sunday’s devastating upset at Raven’s stadium.

Helloooooo, Poppets!

Mrs. Doubtfire is exactly what this city needs to wake up, feel good, laugh and cry a little, and be made whole again! Coming in hot off the boards of Broadway, Rob McClure and the sensational singing, rapping, hip-hop-happening Scottish nanny is hear to take Charm City by hilarious and heartfelt storm.

Season of WOW: An Interview with Ron Legler talking about the 2024/2025 Broadway Hippodrome Season

Interviews January 27, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

The sun’ll come out— TOMORROW! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow— they’ll be— A Lion!?

Charm City is packing its Bromo-Seltzer Arts District with some of the hottest tickets in town for the 2024/2025 Hippodrome Broadway Series, powered by CareFirst. With not one but TWO National Tour launches, compliments of some hard-earned tax-credits now working in the state of Maryland (by way of Governor Wes Moore and the Maryland State Legislature), several shows direct from Broadway (or in some cases— still currently on Broadway) and a whole bunch of fun for everyone,

Moulin Rouge! at The Hippodrome

Reviews December 6, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Hello, Chickens!!! Are you ready to experience the epicenter of your passions? The apogee of your desires? Of course you are, you radiant reprobates and rascals!

Truth

Beauty

Freedom

Love

They’ve got it all in Montmartre— it’s all there to titillate the senses, tease the mind, sway the heartstrings— it’s all there inside The Moulin Rouge! And Moulin Rouge has landed itself grandly at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre for a limited two-week engagement just in time for the holiday season.

The Wiz "No Bad News" ???? Jeremy Daniel

The Wiz at The Hippodrome

Reviews September 27, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Everybody look around! Because there’s a reason to rejoice and shout— everybody come on down! You owe it to yourself to check it out! Can’t you feel a brand new day? That brand new day has come! Charm City has the hottest ticket in town with the Broadway-bound production of The Wiz. Directed by Schele Williams, with Musical Supervision & Orchestration by Joseph Joubert, and Choreography by Jaquel Knight, the book (by William F.

Caroline Bowman as Elsa in Frozen. ???? Deenvan Meer

Frozen at The Hippodrome

Reviews June 9, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Winter’s a good time to stay in and cuddle— but you’re going to have to LET IT GO. Because summer has arrived and with it blows the sparkly, dazzling, twinkly lights of Disney Broadway musical, blasting its way into Baltimore and ready to take Charm City by storm. We may not have seen any snow last winter, but fear now, with summer arriving— Frozen is here and ready to bring you all the snow you’ll ever need.

Nathan Lee Graham (center) and the company of the North American Tour of Hadestown ???? T Charles Erickson

Hadestown at The Hippodrome

Reviews April 12, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

A song so beautiful it brings the world back into tune.

But’s a sad song.

It’s an old song.

And it is finally, finally here at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre!

The train on that long road to hell has arrived, bringing you the epic, Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown. With music, book, & lyrics by Anaïs Mitchell, this stylistically mesmerizing and wondrously refreshing take on an ancient Greek myth will dazzle and amaze,

Melanie Moore (left) as Scout and Jacqueline Williams (right) as Calpurnia ????Julieta Cervantes

To Kill a Mockingbird at The Hippodrome

Reviews March 15, 2023 Mark Briner

Sixty years ago Harper Lee penned what has become perhaps the quintessential American coming of age novel, the enduring and beloved staple of middle school American Literature curriculums To Kill a Mockingbird, which became in turn one of the most enduring and beloved movies of all time starring Gregory Peck, winner of the Academy Award for his endearing, human portrayal of antihero Atticus Finch trying to make a difference in the morality of the deep South.

"One Day More" from Les Misérables ???? Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

Les Miserables at The Hippodrome Theatre

Reviews February 8, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Do you hear the people sing? Do you hear the distant drums? It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes! And tomorrow has finally arrived once again in Baltimore as the critically acclaimed national tour of Les Miserables arrives in Charm City, gracing the stage of The Hippodrome Theatre in The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center. The music is both iconic and memorable; the story is powerful and timeless. And this current national tour— a Cameron Mackintosh and NETWORKS presentation— is of the finest quality,

Season of Love & Laughter: A Talk with Ron Legler about the 23/24 Hippodrome Season

Interviews February 7, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

They are not throwing away their shot! After a spectacular come-back season, referred to by France-Merrick Performing Arts Center President Ron Legler as the “Season of Gratitude”— featuring such sensational shows as Hamilton, Jagged Little Pill, and Les Miserables— The Hippodrome Theatre has a whole new season lined up and it is spectacular! Including a Baltimore first— a pre-Broadway launch— as well as shows brand-new to the city,

Nadina Hassan (standing, center) as Regina George in Mean Girls. ????Jenny Anderson

Mean Girls at The Hippodrome

Reviews July 13, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

Is butter a carb? Yes? Grool. I mean— that’s SO FETCH! (never stop trying to make FETCH happen!) And now you don’t have to! Now all you have to do is get your tickets to see Mean Girls on the national tour as it sweeps through Baltimore for a one-week engagement at The Hippodrome. Based on the iconic screen-gem with book by Tina Fey, Music by Jeff Richmond, and Lyrics by Nell Benjamin,

The National Touring Company of Ain't Too Proud. ????Emilio Madrid

Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations at The Hippodrome

Reviews May 4, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

Music is the universal language that brings us all together. And you can feel the music rolling all through Charm City as The First National Tour of Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations rolls on up to Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre for a one-week stop. Featuring the music & lyrics of The Legendary Motown Catalog with book by Dominique Morisseau, this show goes above and beyond the battle-cry of your ‘standard jukebox musical.’ This is the true,

The Company of Pretty Woman: The Musical. ???? Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

Pretty Woman at The Hippodrome

Reviews April 6, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

Tell me what’s your dream! I know you got one— if your dream is to see a magnificent Broadway show right in your back yard, well guess what, Baltimore? The Hippodrome is making that dream come true! Touring through for a one-week limited engagement, Pretty Woman, the musical based on the Touchstone Pictures motion picture from 1990, is a joyful, powerful, wondrous dream come true with all the hallmarks of a perfect screen-to-stage production.

Season of Gratitude: A Chat With Ron Legler About the 2022/2023 Hippodrome Season

Interviews March 30, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

Broadway is coming back to Baltimore! The France-Merrick Center for Performing Arts’ Hippodrome Theatre is once again alive with the sounds of music and laughter and live people! The 2022/2023 season is simply spectacular, to use the vernacular! In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview, we’ve had a phone conversation with President of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center Ron Legler all about the new season and what’s exciting him the most about the nine shows— five of which are currently still on Broadway— that will be passing through Charm City starting in November of 2022.

(L to R) Charis Gullage as “Disco Donna”, Brittny Smith as “Diva Donna”, and Amahri Edwards-Jones as “Duckling Donna” in SUMMER. Photo: N ick Gould.

Summer: The Donna Summer Musical at The Hippodrome

Reviews February 16, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

She’s your friend. She’s your lover. She’s your sister. She’s the Queen of Disco! She is Donna Summer. And though it’s still cold and snowy and unpleasant outside in Charm City— Summer has come to town! Summer: The Donna Summer Musical has landed at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre through February 20, 2022 and will have you tapping your toes, clapping along to the beat, and singing & dancing in the aisles by the end of the show.

Brittny Smith (center) as Diva Donna and the cast of Summer. Photo: Denise Trupe

Sizzlin’ Summer: Dynamic Diva Delivers Interview- Brittny Smith on playing ‘Diva Donna’

Interviews February 4, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

“To come back into live theatre, in the wake of this on-going pandemic, why not come to a party?” ~Brittny Smith on Summer: The Donna Summer Musical experience.

You’ve heard the songs. You know the name. Now go behind the scenes to see what it’s like to be Donna Summer. In a TheatreBloom exclusive, we’ve had the privilege to speak with Brittny Smith, playing ‘Diva Donna’ on the current national tour of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.

Tootsie at The Hippodrome

Reviews December 1, 2021 Amanda N. Gunther

Look out world! This show’s on a roll! It’s unstoppable! Tootsie the musical is crashing its way into Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre in the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center this holiday season, just in time to give everyone a little something different this December. Based on the 80’s film of the same name (from Columbia Pictures, staring Dustin Hoffman), this Tootsie is something strange and something new; it’s a fast-paced, high-octane story of the real-life struggles of actors,

Jisel Soleil Ayon (center) as Jenna in Waitress. Photo: Jeremy Daniel

Waitress at The Hippodrome

Reviews November 7, 2021 Amanda N. Gunther

What’s inside? Everyone wants to know! It’s musical theatre at its finest; simple things like sugar, butter, flour now on stage in the form of the critically-acclaimed, award-winning production of Waitress. With book by Jessie Nelson (based upon the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly) and music & lyrics by Sara Bareilles, this ‘slice of life’ musical chronicles the story of Jenna, a small-town diner waitress in a miserable marriage with an unexpected surprise on the way.

Talia Suskauer as Elphaba. Photo: Joan Marcus

Wicked at The Hippodrome

Reviews February 14, 2020 Amanda N. Gunther

Magic is a demanderating mistress! And who better to know
that than the witches of Oz! Yes, for one short day— well, several short days
(through March 8, 2020)— you too can see the Emerald City, and hear the
splendor, and experience the glory that is the Tony Award-winning musical Wicked
as it defies gravity and lands once more in Baltimore! Green with envy yet?
You will be if you don’t get your tickets and they’re red hot like ruby
slippers!

The Hippodrome’s 2020/2021 Broadway Season: A Quick Chat With President Ron Legler

Interviews January 15, 2020 Amanda N. Gunther

Are you ready for Broadway in your own backyard? Baltimore’s
Hippodrome Theatre just announced their 2020/2021 season and they’re bringing
shows hot off Broadway right to the heart of Charm City! The season features
six shows making their Baltimore debut:

Tootsie (10/13/20 – 10/18/20)
Pretty Woman (12/8/20 – 12/13/20)
Mean Girls (01/19/21 – 01/24/21)
The Prom

Kaenaonālani Kekoa (left) as Jasmine and Jonah Ho'okano (right) as Aladdin. Photo: Deen van Meer

Aladdin at The Hippodrome

Reviews November 15, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Gotta keep— one jump, ahead of the box-office line! One
swing— ahead of the rest! Disney’s got a show that truly tops the rest! So make
way— for Disney’s Aladdin! Make way— for Disney’s Aladdin! Coasting
in on a magic carpet just in time for the holidays this highly adventurous, memorably
Disney stage show brings you a cave of wonders and them some when it comes to
theatrical spectacle.

The Phantom of the Opera at The Hippodrome

Reviews October 12, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation…darkness wakes
and stirs imagination…open up your mind…let your fantasies unwind…because it’s
here— The Phantom of the Opera! The much-awaited, long anticipated
return of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical masterpiece, wearing its new-age millennial
skin, The New Production of The Phantom of The Opera tells Broadway’s
most haunting love-adjacent story with much more smoke and whistles for the new
age of theatergoers. Directed by Laurence Connor with Choreography by Scott Ambler,

Where In The World Have You Been Hiding? An Interview with The Phantom of The Opera’s SarahGrace Mariani on Playing Meg Giry

Interviews September 10, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s here— The Phantom of the Opera! Well, almost! In
just a few short weeks, the newly imagined National Tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber
& Cameron Mackintosh’s critically acclaimed musical success will be landing
in Charm City for just two short weeks! The Phantom of The Opera comes
to Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre from October 6, 2019 through October 20, 2019;
the spell-binding masterpiece still has tickets available for sale! TheatreBloom
has sat down with SarahGrace Mariani,